Money: pivot of power or happiness

Money: pivot of power or happiness

At that very moment I realized that I was still into my simple shoes and this was just an imagination! I felt glad that rather than being on the top of the mountain of gold I was standing contented on the mountain of happiness😊😊

The world revolves around money but I never believed in this. I was a person who believed in simple living. I always felt money could neither give us happiness nor strong relationships. In fact I had always seen materialistic people leading meaningless lives with no contentment.

But as I saw more of life, I realized it is money which governs power shifts and it’s ultimately money that gives you an upper hand in relationships. However, people who crave for power found happiness in money.

When my need for power grew, at one point of time I felt, I had wasted my life underestimating the importance of money. I was almost convinced that I had to take another birth if I wanted to rebuild my life the way I wished to.

My thoughts took a flight in my imagination and I could see myself in the new shoes of an imaginary life where I was earning a lot of money…But the next moment I felt love slipping out of my powerful hands. I could see people around me respecting me for the money and power I had but not for the way I was as a person. But there was no trace of happiness!! I could not see any genuine well wisher around. I was on the top of the mountain of gold and to reach there I had stamped under my feet, my emotions and ethics. I had won no hearts and treasured no happy moments.

I enjoyed your post and thought I’d share an experience that I had pertaining to the subject. I realized money can cost you. I spent a significant portion of my life in the pursuit of money. I’ve always had a strong work ethic and when I found out I could use it to make money, I went after it. After high school my brother and I drifted apart. We lived close enough to see each other, but only did so on holidays and such. There were many times he reached out to me to go do something together, but I was forever in my pursuit of business. When he passed away, my life sunk into a dark place. I was promoted many times by then but suddenly found it all meaningless. All the years of “one day we’ll…” were suddenly stripped away in a moment. My best intentions no longer carried weight. It was the most difficult journey in my life. I had no idea the lesson that I would learn through this experience in the years that followed. I’ve been promoted many times since; however, its never been at the expense of what is truly important in life. Now I live to love and be loved. The joy that followed has meant more to me than all the money I’ve ever earned. Nothing wrong with money, I just put it a few places back on my priority list.

I was lucky when I was still very young. I worked for an extremely wealthy woman who told me her happiest memories were of when she was, like me, far from rich. She no longer knew who her friends were. People invited her to many dinners, which usually these were fund-raisers She felt lonely and envied me my plans for that Sunday — a picnic in the park with friends and our kids — we couldn’t afford to eat in a restaurant. I’ve never forgotten her……

Accept it or not but money is very important in life. Family, relationships, happiness, etc all are important but money is also important. Without money, you can’t fulfill your needs. For everything, you need money, this is the harsh truth.

I always said I would rather a job I enjoyed and paid little, than a job that I didn’t enjoy but earned lots. Now in my 50’s, I have two jobs and enjoy both.
My week-day job is 5 hrs per day and starts around 3pm – driving, which I like, but every morning is MINE! The other is all day Saturday at a market, it’s a long day but I don’t try to sell my stuff – I have fun and talk to tourists! The stuff then sells itself 🙂 I usually make more there than my week day job.
You can always earn more money, but you can’t earn more time 🙂

This is so true. As someone who does not make much, society dictates that I should be less happy. However, as I age I push myself to remember its not the wage that dictates my happiness but my mind. Thank you for that gentle reminder.

Author

I am a writer, poet and happiness counsellor. Being a passionate lover of life, I have a treasure of experiences to share with my readers.
I have graduated as a mechanical engineer, post-graduated as an MBA in human resources and have worked in market research for three years.